Transnational organized crime groups have become such a serious problem in Latin America that they are damaging the region’s overall economic performance, said Rodrigo Valdés, director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the Western Hemisphere.
“Latin American governments must cooperate together to combat criminal groups whose operations, such as drug and migrant trafficking and extortion, harm investment and progress while destroying people’s lives,” Valdés told the Financial Times.
“Growing global demand for cocaine has fueled the emergence of stronger and more powerful drug cartels throughout the region,” he continued.
While gangs, some of which have ties to organized crime in Europe, the United States, and Africa, have recently expanded smuggling routes, sparking bloodshed in countries that were stable, such as Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay,
“At the IMF’s next annual meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, the financial agency will reveal research showing that having a higher homicide rate is more than correlated with lower economic performance, in terms of growth and investment,” Valdés noted.
“Surveys conducted around the region have revealed that the rise in crime is the first or second greatest concern of citizens,” he stated.
“It’s not a global concern, but for Latin America, it has to be a priority,” Rodrigo Valdes told the media specializing in economics.
The Chilean economist and former finance minister, who took over the IMF last May, said the crime wave is also linked to problems in society, such as the “horrible” distribution of income and the widespread lack of opportunities. However, he considered that it was necessary “to work on the efficiency of the state to control crime.”
